Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind.(Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last.(Friends of Israel Initiative)

Monday, 30 May 2016

Remember my brief penultimate post regarding a London schoolgirl's slander of Israel? Well, that favourite blogger of mine, Edgar Davidson, has done an absolutely sterling job in following it up, and the brilliant Brian of London has made a superb must-be-watched video in response to Leanne's, addressed to her, and her headmaster and coaches.

*See note at end of this post for petition to sign

Not only has Edgar Davidson written three marvellous posts on the topic (the first here), showing, in the latest, apparent influences on young Leanne in the formation of her views, but (being never a mere keyboard warrior) he has been instrumental in persuading the Speakers Trust (to its great credit, the more so in its speedy response) to deny Leanne and her speech a further platform under its auspices.

Its CEO, Julie Holness, has informed him:

"Thank you very much for your email, which my colleague Rebecca Griffiths has this morning forwarded to me. We take your concerns very seriously.

Every year thousands of young people are trained in the art of public speaking. They are encouraged to speak out on something they feel passionately about and of course they bring with them their history and culture and beliefs.

There are, however, two fundamental rules that are made explicit during the training:

- the speech must have a positive and uplifting message - in fact this is one of the core terms of the agreement with the Jack Petchey Foundation.

- a speaker should never inflame or offend the audience or insult others and this, by definition, means that propaganda is ruled out absolutely from the outset.

It is, however, the school that votes through its most talented speaker in an Assembly final and an independent panel of judges from the local community who select their regional winner. Speeches at this level will have been further developed and even rewritten, with the training guidelines but without our input on content. Judges do not mark a speaker down because they disagree with a point of view but they are clearly briefed on the those guidelines. Unfortunately, with over 18,000 young people trained annually, a speech that does not observe these ground rules may very rarely get through on passion and delivery.

Last Saturday a Speakers Trust and Jack Petchey Foundation judging panel decided unanimously against sending Leanne Mohamad through to the next stage and she will not be speaking at the Grand Final. These were precisely our concerns.

As a Speakers Trust trainer I was responsible for managing the schools in Redbridge and I have a close affinity with the region. Please let me know if you would like me to forward your email to Wanstead High School so that your comments and reservations may be heard..."

Mr Davidson has stressed that he has not advocated removal or censorship of the video of the speech, only that Leanne's defamation of Israel is counterbalanced by the truth.

But that, of course, has not prevented such reactions as this:

As for Leanne:

"... about love and peace?"

Sure thing.

Meanwhile, headmaster Hamlyn's response has yet to come ...

From Wanstead High School's Twitter page, a small sample of the condemnation it's rightly received for permitting Leanne to promote her defamation of Israel:

Our primary duty of care is to the young people we work with and we cannot tolerate any form of insult or abuse. We are concerned and saddened that Leanne’s experience has been less than positive.

Leanne Mohamad is the Redbridge Regional Final winner and there has never been any suggestion that she should be disqualified. Almost 190,000 young people have spoken out over the years on any topic which they feel passionately about and none has ever been banned from the process or silenced.

We are, however, a small charity without the capacity to moderate comments 24 hours a day and it was considered essential to protect Leanne by temporarily suspending the regional video over the bank holiday, until we were able to consult with her school and family.

Of 37 talented regional Champions only fifteen can be voted through to the Grand Final. This selection process took place on Saturday 21st May based on standard judging criteria and without any external influence or input.

The general “rules” of effective public speaking are guidelines to help speakers to create a speech that will connect with a large and diverse audience and every speech was judged on its own merits. At the heart of what we do lies the determination that all of our young speakers, irrespective of background, race or creed, should be able to speak out in a safe and supportive environment.

Here's the text of a circular letter from "anti-Zionists" who seem totally unconcerned that lies and blood libels have been spread.

Letter to

Trudy Kilcullen - Chief Executive Officer Jack Petchey Foundation

councillor wanstead council sheila bain

Bob Hamlyn Wanstead Highschool, london

MP John Cryer

I
am writing to request that you uncensor Leanne Muhamad of Wansted High
School, the British Palestinian Award winning schoolgirl.Leanne
Muhamad won the "Speak out" challenge after giving an impressive
performance to enthusiastic applause. However one day later, following
complaints from extremist anti-Palestinian blogger Edgar Davidson to the
Speakers Trust (the charity that trains the students to take part in
the Speak Out Challenge) you have now decided against sending Leanne
Mohamad through to the final rounds of the competition.Julie
Holness, CEO of the Speakers Trust, alleged that Ms Mohamad had breached
“two fundamental rules that are made explicit during the training”. She
said: “There are two fundamental rules that are made explicit during
the training: the speech must have a positive and uplifting message - in
fact this is one of the core terms of the agreement with the Jack
Petchey Foundation [and] a speaker should never inflame or offend the
audience or insult others and this, by definition, means that propaganda
is ruled out absolutely from the outset.These "two fundamantal
rules" are not written as Ms Holness shared them - and also were taken
out of context - it is not stated anywhere about an "uplifting message"
nor is it stated anywhere about "insulting others" nor any reference to
"propaganda" in the topics recommended: Topics (note not rules) should
be presented in a positive/constructive manner even if the subject is of
a more serious or hard-hitting nature.Leanne Muhamad's chosen
topic is extremely serious and she approached it in a highly meaningful
and passionate way, as a call to peace. This is an uplifting message
and I am writing to ask that you uncensor her and allow her to proceed
in the competition, so that her voice can be heard and to repect the
freedom of expression as laid down by the law.

This London teacher, commenting on the decision to withdraw Leanne's speech from the remainder of the competition surely misses the point, as do numerous others whose opposition to the decision is less politely expressed. Leanne's speech is inflammatory, inappropriate and unacceptable not because it presents its case but because (probably unwittingly on her part) it presents its case via falsehoods and misrepresentations, thus maligning Israel in a damaging and defamatory way, as so ably shown by Brian of London. Schoolchildren should not be exposed to an anti-Israel message that relies on lies and blood libels.

Incidentally, here's a current article in the Melbourne press regarding the propagandistic play City by the Sea that has found its way onto the school-leavers' exam curriculum in the state of Victoria (other states, watch out!), news of which I broke on this blog. Anti-Israel propaganda aimed at schools seems to be de rigueur these days.

* NB Brian of London's excellent refutation of Leanne's misrepresentations that malign Israel forms the basis of a petition here (please signand spread the word)Brian is also wonderful here, but the studio host's remarks are in places unfortunate, and the video title is outrageous and unwarranted:

The authenticity of Sharon’s supposed statement is shrouded in uncertainty. Michael Shaik writing in the Green Left Weeklyclaimed the statement was made by a British journalist boasting at Israel’s National Press Club.

Max Blumenthal writes it was made in a private chat with Winston Churchill’s grandson in 1973. On 18 July 2002 George Hishmeh – an Arab-American journalist based in Washington – elucidated:

"Winston S. Churchill III, grandson of the famed British prime minister, recalled last October [11 October 2001 – Ed] at the National Press Club here a telling encounter he had had in 1973 with the hawkish Ariel Sharon, now the Israeli prime minister, about Zionist objectives. “What is to become of the Palestinians?” Churchill asked. “We’ll make a pastrami sandwich of them,” Sharon said. Churchill responded, “What?” “Yes, we’ll insert a strip of Jewish settlements in between the Palestinians, and then another strip of Jewish settlements right across the West Bank, so that in 25 years’ time, neither the United Nations nor the United States, nobody, will be able to tear it apart.”

Hishmeh identified as his source Geoffrey Aronson:

“who is recognized in the US as the preeminent American expert on the Israeli settlement movement, loves to relate this significant exchange as he did in an interview with The [Lebanon – Ed] Daily Star on two different occasions.”

Churchill recounting a 1973 private discussion in such precise detail at the Washington National Press Club twenty eight years later – is highly suspect.

Churchill never made any mention of this conversation with Sharon in his published speech at the Press Club – although he could have recalled the conversation as an aside or in some discussion with Aronson or others afterwards.

Churchill’s bombshell revelation seems to have gone unnoticed as this contemporaneous report indicates.

No other reports have been found.

I have been unable to listen to or download a copy of a tape that apparently exists and could possibly shed some light on what Churchill said.

Please help me retrieve it if you can.

Whether that tape surfaces or not, a question mark must hang over the accuracy of Sharon’s previously unpublished 1973 private remarks – only disclosed by Churchill in 2001.

Sharon and Churchill are not alive to confirm or deny what was said – yet the terms of this private conversation are quoted with unerring accuracy and entrenched as gospel in Rhiannon’s pamphlet.

Rhiannon’s continuing use of Sharon’s “statement” – compounded by her excluding part of Dayan’s statement – raises questions as to the propriety of the Greens using this pamphlet to garner votes in the upcoming July Federal elections.

Shredding these pamphlets has become an urgent priority.

The Greens' political integrity requires its support for the Palestinian Arabs be based on solid grounds – not shaky foundations.

'Jack Petchey’s “Speak Out” Challenge! is a programme run by Speakers Trust and funded by the Jack Petchey Foundation.

We believe everybody should have the skills, confidence and desire to speak in public, and are dedicated to helping people of all ages and levels achieve this.

We are a registered charity, and work in partnership with the not-for-profit and social enterprise sectors – from prisons to schools, charities and community groups.

Jack Petchey’s “Speak Out” Challenge! is available to every state secondary school in London and Essex.

The training scheme is offered to at least one group of 25 students from Year 10 (the school can opt to take more workshops if desired). The school decides which pupils will participate. Speakers Trust strongly recommends that the training is offered to a cross-section of students in the year.

The project is run throughout the year to coincide with the three school semesters although training may take place any time during the school year ...'

This year's Redbridge Regional Finals Award has been won by Wanstead High School student Leanne Mohamad, who declares, inter alia, that "Islam is perfect!" and ends the highly tendentious emotive speech with"Let Us Together say 'Free Palestine!", to thunderous applause.

[UPDATE: The video has been removed by the user but most of it can be seen on Brian of London's video (for that and more on this sorry saga see my post here )]

I may be wrong, but I have a hunch that young Leanne was preaching to the converted...

Meanwhile, outside Holiday Inn (scene of the G4S AGM) in the leafy outer London suburb of Sutton, some old friends of ours do what they do best in this Alex Seymour video. Before the usual Israel-demonising declarations, a singer-guitarist serenades ...

Wednesday, 25 May 2016

At the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of a prominent Hamas commander, pays warm tribute to Israel as "the only light in the Middle East", condemns BDS, the "apartheid" slur, and the political correctness that muzzles expressions of fear regarding Islam ("the Muslim people have a problem"), and issues a stark warning that the danger from Islam endangers the whole world, not just Israel.

Monday, 23 May 2016

"There should be no racism in football" says the first interviewee in this Alex Seymour video from outside the Wembley Stadium before the FA Cup Final last week in which Manchester United beat Crystal Palace 2:1.

No, indeed. And that sentiment should extend to the Israel-haters who spend so much of their time working to get Israel thrown out of FIFA.

To quote the maker and uploader:

"Manchester United playing against Crystal Palace, two teams with Football Against Apartheid supporters amongst their fans. We were at the magnificent stadium at Wembley to leaflet and spread the word amongst football's devotees that Israel, as the only country in the world currently practicing apartheid in both sport and in day to day life, should not be allowed to get away with it and has to be penalized where it will most affect the man in the Tel Aviv street, by being excluded from FIFA, as part of the general BDS campaign to free the people of Palestine from the yoke of Israel's near 50 year occupation."

There's a particular irony in all this. Something to do with violations of human rights. I'm drawing attention to it, inter alia, on my blogpost on Elder of Ziyon this Tuesday. So please watch that space. (Update: See here)

Friday, 20 May 2016

A disturbing look at the intimidation of Jewish students on campus in the UK:

To quote the uploader:

Dr Alan Mendoza engages with a panel to discuss the rise of antisemitism on campus, often disguised as anti-Zionism. Alan is joined by Jonathan Neumann from Jewish Human Rights Watch, Ben Hayton from University College London and Devorah Khafi from Queen Mary University. Current Affairs | J-TV

And from Douglas Murray and the Gatestone Institute, a succinct explanation of why it's not surprisng if youngsters in the UK think "it's open season on Israel":

To quote the uploader:

Antisemitism isn’t new to the UK Labour Party, and its recent
antisemitic outbursts shouldn’t surprise anyone. Labour Party leader
Jeremy Corbyn has ordered an “independent inquiry” into the party’s
antisemitism. Gatestone Institute Senior Fellow Douglas Murray
explains how Labour’s antisemitism problem starts at top of the party,
and why this inquiry won’t solve anything.

This is the first of the Gatestone Institute's video series, produced with the aid of The Rebel.media

Senator Lee Rhiannon – a member of the Greens Party holding a pivotal position in Australian politics – authorised and printed a deceptive and misleading pamphlet which was distributed at a protest rally addressed by her last Sunday in Sydney “against Israeli Apartheid and commemorating Al Nakba 68 years on.”

Image credit: J-Wire.com

The pamphlet purported to quote a statement by Israel’s then Defense Minister Moshe Dayan in 1969:

“We came to a region of land that was inhabited by Arabs and we set up a Jewish State … Jewish villages were built in the place of Arab villages“

What Dayan actually said – which Senator Rhiannon was apparently not prepared to disclose – was:

“We came to a region that was inhabited by Arabs, and we set up a Jewish state. In many places, we purchased the land from Arabs and set up Jewish villages where there had once been Arab villages.”

God forbid that those present should learn that Jews had actually purchased land from its Arab owners. Better to maintain the canard repeated in Palestinian text books and media that

“8.6 per cent of the land was owned by Jews and 3.3 per cent by Israeli Arabs, while 16.9 per cent had been abandoned by Arab owners who imprudently heeded the call from neighbouring countries to "get out of the way" while the invading Arab armies made short shrift of Israel. The rest of the land—over 70 per cent—had been vested in the Mandatory Power, and accordingly reverted to the State of Israel as its legal heir. (Government of Palestine, Survey of Palestine, 1946, British Government Printer, p. 257.) The greater part of this 70 per cent consisted of the Negev, some 3,144,250 acres all told, or close to 50 per cent of the 6,580,000 acres in all of Mandatory Palestine. Known as Crown or State Lands, this was mostly uninhabited arid or semi-arid territory, inherited originally by the Mandatory Government from Turkey. In 1948 it passed to the Government of Israel. These lands had not been owned by Arab farmers—neither under the British Mandate nor under the preceding regime.”

Senator Rhiannon has a Parliamentary staff to assist her in ensuring everything that issues in her name as a Senator is totally and completely accurate.

She has let her emotions cloud her judgement in what can only be seen as a deliberate attempt to paper over the fact that Jews bought land in Palestine they settled on.

Another pamphlet containing four maps was handed out at the rally – supposedly documenting Palestinian loss of land between 1946 and 2000.

Image credit: J-Wire.com

McGraw Hill Publishing only recently withdrew from sale and trashed unsold copies of one of its textbooks – Global Politics: Engaging a Complex World – containing those maps.

"As soon as we learned about the concerns with it, we placed sales of the book on hold and immediately initiated an academic review. The review determined that the map did not meet our academic standards. We have informed the authors and we are no longer selling the book. All existing inventory will be destroyed. We apologize and will refund payment to anyone who returns the book."

Senator Rhiannon is perfectly entitled to express her support for the Palestinian Arabs.

It would be encouraging to know, however, that her support is based on fact – not fiction and partisan propaganda designed to deceive and mislead and possibly incite to violence and Jew-hatred.

Tuesday, 17 May 2016

"The great crime of the 20th century is now the great crime of the 21st century."

That's how, according to an excellent must-read report from J-Wire, the Israel-hating BDS-loving part-Jewish Greens Australian Senator Lee Rhiannon, the daughter of hard left parents, described the Nakba at this year's "Nakba Day" rally in Sydney.

As J-Wire noted, and as seen in the Sydney Daily Telegraph, she also authorised rally leaflets and a poster using parliamentary funds, material that denies Israel's right to exist by dating the "Occupation" to 1948. (Read and see more at J-Wire here)

Some faces in the crowd:

Yes, it seems that all of Israel-hating human life was there.

The ludicrous "Jews Against The Occupation" also turned up, but since they'd fit inside an old-fashioned telephone booth and still have space over I haven't bothered to include them.

I trust that Senator Rhiannon, a staunch feminist who nevertheless denounces "Islamophobia"

deplores the overt antisemitism seen among Nakba Day demonstrators such as this bozo at the rally:

I think we should be told.

Meanwhile:

The Anti-Israel-obsessed Left is lobbying hard.

"Nakba Day" has also seen a squalid development in Adelaide.

The Migration Museum in that city is a South Australia state government institution that according to its website "works towards the preservation, understanding and enjoyment of South Australia’s diverse cultures. It is a place to discover the many identities of the people of South Australia through the stories of individuals and communities".

However, on Sunday 15 May political divisiveness and demonisation of Israel intruded upon the multicultural ethos, since the Museum permitted a "Nakba Day" event under the auspices of AFOPA (Australian Friends of Palestine Association) to take place for the purpose of unveiling a plaque headed "Palestine" commemorating the "Nakba, or Catastrophe" (text shown close-up below).

In his speech at the unveiling Adelaide resident Dr Ibrahim Elassaad reminisced about his Palestinian Arab family's experiences (and I'm sure no one begrudges him his memories nor his feelings), but the political nature of the event at a publicly funded Museum was a propaganda exercise which enabled one-sided denunciation of Israel to go unchallenged:

"We suffered greatly as a result of our displacement. We became a stateless people.

We lived as refugees, struggling for recognition, struggling for survival and waiting for the day when we can go back home. We still wait for the day when we can go back home.

Today marks the 68th anniversary of the Al Nakba - the Catastrophe of Palestine. Today I am sad to say that the Palestinian displacement and suffering has not stopped.... The Israeli Separation Wall, which is illegal under International law and which has destroyed any possibility of a contiguous Palestinian land, continues.

And today we witness the siege of more than two million Palestinians in Gaza. Gaza stands as the world’s largest and most densely populated open air prison, with the Palestinians denied autonomy over access to their land, and denied autonomy over their sea and air space.

The list goes on.

And the intention of the Israeli Occupying powers is clear: it is to make Palestinian life so miserable so as to force the remaining Palestinians to leave....

Today we are calling for all people who believe in human rights and all governments who proclaim democracy, equal opportunity and justice to stand by the Palestinians. To help them regain their freedom; their rights and their autonomy.

We are grateful and indebted to the Australian people for their support, and we are indebted to the Migration Museum of South Australia for acknowledging us and for commemorating the suffering of the Palestinian people; and for acknowledging the contribution of the South Australian Palestinian community with this plaque...."

Remember my posts here and here about the infiltration of anti-Israel propaganda packs into British schools by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) in alliance with CAABU (the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding) and the National Union of Teachers (NUT), Britain's largest teachers' union?

Well, these developments just got more sinister, as an Anglo-Jewish blogger tells:

".... This Jew hatred, this historical revisionism, this support for terrorism, has no place in our school system. We need to ensure that the NUT distances itself not just from these remarks, but from this insidious poison that underscores the PSC movement.

On Saturday, a Jew was evicted from the NUT headquarters because he is proud of his Jewish heritage and refuses to bow down before this revisionist propaganda. I reject entirely the lies that are being disseminated by the PSC movement. It is a movement with its roots in fabrication, denying Jewish history and supporting terrorism. Is all this now acceptable in London in 2016? Well the National Union of Teachers seems to think so.

So I say to the NUT directly. On Saturday 14th May, I was thrown out of your HQ. I was thrown out shortly after hearing antisemitic, terrorist supporting garbage loudly applauded inside your headquarters. I deserve both a response and an apology."

The words are David Collier's and his full post can be read here
(Hat tip: Harvey)

Meanwhile, spruiking the narrative of the only "hereditary refugees" in existence:

"As a Palestinian I am here to tell them ... We will return one day!" screams a familiar speaker outside Parliament in this video by our old friend Alex Seymour.

Monday, 16 May 2016

This "Russia Today" newsclip was posted by "London Palestine Action", the group that, among other escapades, pastes anti-Israel posters that look just like bona fide advertisements on London Tube trains.

They say:

"A rally organised by London Palestine Action to mark the 68th
anniversary of the Nakba in Palestine, was met by a group of around 25
people from the UK zionist federation heckling the participants and screaming "terrorist" at them in London on Nakba Day, Sunday.

The
group of around 100 pro-Palestinian activists were attempting to carry
out a peaceful traditional Palestinian Dabke dance outside a Sabon
store, an Israeli company that operates in illegally occupied territory
in Palestine. However, the participants were harassed and intimidated by
the group of zionists, who followed them through the streets screaming
"terrorists" and chanting against them."

Meanwhile, in Sydney, a Green Left snap of some of the usual suspects from the usual hard left groups on the Nakba Day march:

As for leftist antisemitism, here's Mark Regev:

See also the brilliant Mr Regev on the Sussex Friend of Israel's video that I've shared on my Facebook page; introduced by Jonathan Arkush, he delivers a very fine address indeed to the British Board of Deputies.

These Israel-haters have linked to the Board of Deputies' website but you may, like me, have difficulty in accessing the video there:

“developing the most effective means to counter terrorist propaganda, incitement and recruitment, including through the Internet, in compliance with international law, including international human rights law”

The President called on its Counter-Terrorism Committee in close consultation with other relevant United Nations bodies and international and regional organizations as well as interested Member States to present a comprehensive international framework to the Security Council by 30 April 2017. Steven A Crown, vice president and deputy general counsel of Microsoft told the Security Council:

"there is no silver bullet that will stop terrorist use of the Internet"

Crown was quick to acknowledge:

"For the internet industry, the scale of the terrorist challenge is daunting. We know that there are tens of thousands terrorist internet accounts that refuse to die. As one is taken down, another quickly springs up in its place."

Crown’s appearance marked the first time a representative of a technology company has addressed the UN's most powerful body.

Crown was surely being naïve in expressing this opinion.

The use of the Internet as a communications tool has been fuelled by the anonymity afforded to those who use it – enabling all kinds of hate and incitement to be spewed out daily without recourse to those who claim to have been legally affected by those who make their vile and outrageous statements.

Surely the first step in any move by the Security Council to combat this “Internet Intifada” is to insist that all member States impose laws in their jurisdictions compelling all Internet providers to insist on the name, addresses and contact phone numbers being provided by all registered users of their websites – including those seeking to post comments.

These details would be held by the Internet provider and could be subpoenaed in any proceedings brought in a competent court of law by persons claiming to have suffered as a result of any offending publication.

Large penalties would be prescribed for those providers who failed to check the bona fides of those using the internet. US Ambassador Samantha Power correctly said it was important to protect free speech.

"As we consider the task of countering violent ideologies we all must recognize that the common goal of countering terrorist ideology should never be used as an excuse to suppress political dissent. Legal action is a critical tool in the campaign against ISIL but it must not be wielded like a cudgel against those who voice unpopular speech or criticize authorities. Such behavior doesn't prevent violent extremism, it fuels it."

Ending anonymity on the Internet is not a threat to free speech. It does not prevent anyone saying whatever they want to say within the bounds of what is legally acceptable.

Anonymity has been widely rejected by most newsprint around the world.

Popular talk back radio shows have a seven second delete button to filter calls deemed to be outside what is legally permitted.

Ending anonymity on the Internet – if prosecuted by all UN member states – will lead to those tens of thousands of terrorist internet accounts currently in existence and their would-be successors being quickly and effectively eliminated.

If people are not prepared to reveal their identities – don’t publish.

Friday, 13 May 2016

The things the PSC clowns on the High Street say! It would be laughable if it weren't so despicably ignorant.

Here, in this video by arch-BDSer Alex Seymour (whose rather pleasant tones can be heard off-camera) a woman from the Slough PSC spouts nonsense and holds those equally nonsensical maps.

That's right, the maps that the contemptible Jewish Voice for Peace have been challenged by David Singer over. No surprise that David (whose wise words regarding combatting lies against Israel including those mendacious maps can be read near the top of my sidebar) still awaits an answer from those demons.

Oh, and if you want to see my latest post regarding British Greens leader Pippa Bartolotti and her take on antisemitism (a post which landed in an unexpected spot!) please scroll back to here!

Wednesday, 11 May 2016

Nearly an hour's worth of footage, but this wonderful woman is worth every minute.

To quote the uploader:

British Columnist for The Times, Melanie Phillips, critiques attemptsby the Left to equate Antisemitism with Islamophobia, distorting thetruth about Islamism in the process. JBS exclusive coverage of anISGAP program from the ISGAP Center in NYC.

To quote David Collier, describing the execrable leftist and as-a-Jew anti-Israel event he attended yesterday in London:

".... Then after [each panellist spoke] for a few minutes each, in the spirit of good comradeship the microphone began to move around the floor. One after the other repeated the sentiments of the panel. ‘It is a witch-hunt’. ‘Antisemitism is a right wing disease’. ‘Left wingers hate all forms of racism, especially Islamophobia’. Over and over again, ‘Islamophobia’, ‘Islamophobia’, ‘Islamophobia’. Several suggested ‘hiding the hate’ might be a good idea for tactical reasons (something to bear in mind). Eventually, someone said it, this whole episode isn’t even about antisemitism, it is about Islamophobia, ‘they’ (I assume Zionists?) ‘are using this to attack Muslims’. Loud applause.

A special mention needs to go to Jonathan Hoffman. Jonathan is a vocal Zionist presence at some of these events. When the microphone arrived at his door. He made full use of it. You can hear his comments below. Fighting the fight the way he does, is I assure you, emotionally charged and draining. This was an extremely hostile room of radical thought. He deserves both our appreciation and gratitude."

Richard Millett's video shows why (be sure to see his description of this latest London anti-Israel fest too):

Good onya, Jonathan. כל הכבוד

Needless to say, the abominable leftists have edited our hero and the heckling out of their videos:

Being a well-brought up gal (and also very conscious of the old adage that "pride has a fall") I hate to boast and am not very fond of boastful types.

Nevertheless I'm quietly chuffed that in my blogging career I've had a couple of scoops, so that my keyboard warfare has not been entirely wasted!

One, happening to spot and screen-grab Stephen Sizer's despicable 9/11 tweet shortly after it was posted and sending it to the London Jewish News after the Jewish Chronicle (caught inexplicably napping) in effect told me "Thanks but no thanks".

The rest, of course, thanks to the British Board of Deputies' current excellent president, is history!

Two, bringing this propagandistic play that's on the current VCE curriculum to readers' attention, having, to my amazement, failed to find any mention (much less condemnation) of it in the expected sources.

Now, The Age newspaper has picked up the story, owing to the admirable Dr Dvir Abramovich of the Anti-Defamation Commission in Victoria expressing real and justified concerns.

Sunday, 8 May 2016

I've blogged several times about the anti-Israel activities of Welsh Greens leader Pippa Bartolotti, for instance (do take a look, for the second one in particular is a wonder to behold!) here and here

Ms Bartolotti certainly deserves a place in the pantheon (if that's the right word!) of British anti-Israel politicians identified in this blog post by the redoubtable Edgar Davidson.

In recent days Ms Bartolotti has shared the following cartoon posted by an anti-Israel resident of Cardiff (whose Facebook page is filled with such matter) and introduced the cartoon with a defiant introductory comment of her own:

More currently from the fragrant lady:

A friend of mine has a formula that he reckons works half or even two-thirds of the time. He calls it Cherchez Le Juif. He says "if a person's more antisemitic than they ought to be, look for the Jewish grandparent".

Both Ken Livingstone and Jeremy Corbyn have suggested that they might well have a Jewish forebear: but have yet to produce the goods. (Dear old granny, in Ken's case, I seem to recall.) Good figleaf, say what?

Terror Groups Eyeing Israel's Destruction from inside NGOs

Two stalwarts go sleuthing:

For their findings cliick on image

"The research suggests that antisemitism is the fuel that primes the PSC engine"

To read the research report click on image

'For as long as these antisemites wrap themselves up in the Palestinian flag, too many people are willing to turn a blind eye. Only against Jews is this type of racism openly tolerated. It is flourishing in schools, colleges, universities, unions and in city councils. In fact, so rampant is the disease now, in some settings you can be ostracised if you do not partake in the frenzy yourself. Bashing Jews has becomes a trendy position for the ignorant social justice warrior. "Palestinianism" is a viral "ponzi scheme" and as it spreads, it carries antisemitism in the undergrowth.' David Collier (2017)

'This new rise in antisemitism, which I had thought long dead, was not shaven-headed white imbeciles from the far right. It was Muslims, a large chunk of it.... Suddenly I grasped that the British far left didn’t want people to know about antisemitism because it pointed the finger at people they really, really liked. From that moment on, it all fell into place.... Time and again the same tropes emerged, the same sort of stuff that Streicher and Goebbels would have commended – and uttered.... And from that a whole bunch of other stuff emerged: the old blood libel business (a favourite of the repulsive Jenny Tonge).... Nice, avuncular, Jeremy Corbyn, with his peace badges, happily laying a wreath at the graveside of Palestinian terrorists who murdered innocent Jewish athletes, oh, and much much more.... It is the same antisemitism, exactly the same: the obsession with Israel to the exclusion of everything else, the conspiracy theory paranoias, the derangement.... Here’s the test – if you cannot see the flagrant racism in the BDS movement, and if you are obsessed with the perfidy of the Middle East’s only democracy to the exclusion of all else, you are an antisemite. That means a good proportion of the Labour Party, including the leader, and almost all of Momentum: no brown shirts, no marching bands, but the same old filth, dressed in the clothes of a polytechnic geography lecturer.'Rod Liddle (2018)

Pro-Israel Down Under

Shalom and Welcome to my blog!I'm the little Aussie blogger who took the screenshot and broke the story of Stephen Sizer's notorious 9/11 post, and I've since broken two other stories that subsequently went viral, one Australia-wide and one, thanks to the sterling work of two other bloggers, worldwide. I remain very surprised and very honoured to have been co-winner, Best Pro-Israel Blog, Hasby Awards, 2013Please "Like" me on Facebook; my Facebook page ishere

'In a region where women are stoned, gays are hanged, Christians are persecuted, Israel ... is different.... Of the 300 million Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa, only Israel's Arab citizens enjoy real democratic rights.... Israel is not what is wrong about the Middle East. Israel is what is right about the Middle East.' Bibi Netanyahu (20 Iyar 5771; 24 May 2011)Scroll to end for more quotations

Tired of anti-Balfour agitprop?

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Balfour and Beyond

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Try this for Sizer

Sizer 101. Click image for link

'Before the June 1967 Six Day War, there were no such things as "settlements". Palestinians were trying to destroy and displace Israel anyhow. The core problem is not, and never was, "settlements," but the right of Israel (or any non-Muslim nation) to exist inside any borders in that part of the world.If you take a stand that is based on a lie, then that stand cannot succeed. If you try to oppose antisemitism but pretend it is the same thing as "Islamophobia," then the structure on which you have made your stand will totter and all your aspirations will fail. If you try to make a stand based on the idea that settlement construction rather than the intransigence of the Palestinians to the existence of a Jewish state is what is holding up a peace deal, then facts will keep on intruding.' Douglas Murray (31 December 2016)https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9685/britain-little-lies

BDS is Antisemitic

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The Bigotry & Immorality of BDS

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'Islamophobia does NOT come from the same wellspring of hatred as antisemitism. Antisemitism is a true prejudice because the hatred and demonisation it promotes derive entirely from lies and a repudiation of rationality itself. Islamophobia is a false allegation of prejudice which is deployed to silence rational criticism based on actual facts about attitudes and practices within the Islamic world. [L]ethally compromised even-handedness is to misunderstand, and thus minimise, antisemitic attitudes and behaviour while shutting down legitimate and necessary discussion of the threat from the Islamic world – even to demonise as “Islamophobic” anyone who draws attention to the extent and consequences of Muslim antisemitism.' Melanie Phillips (14 December 2016)

"Selling a house to a Jew is a betrayal of Allah"

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Maps of Mendacity & Mischief

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These misleading maps were deliberately prepared to date from 1946 – intentionally papering over the momentous events that had occurred between 1917 and 1945. Attempts to unravel binding precepts of international law established between 1917 and 1945 – and failing to insist on their being upheld and enforced – has a lot to do with the sorry situation the world finds itself in today.David Singer (2016)

How They Twist the Truth!

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Jews have re-assumed the role of the canary in the mine and are the first to be targeted, but the world would face the same threat if Jews did not exist. Israel has been at the front lines confronting Islamic extremism but has received scant support... For Jews, the writing has been on the wall for a long time. The virulence of the antisemitic hatred closing in on Jews in Europe (and elsewhere) is horrifying... Europe is today facing a crisis as serious as the confrontation with Nazism. If Western leaders continue behaving like Chamberlain and fail to stand up to this global threat, it could usher in a new Dark Age in which the Judeo-Christian culture is subsumed by primitive barbarism. The writing is on the wall Isi Leibler (12 January 2015)

Expose The Lies!

There is a war of lies and deceit on the internet generating unbelievable hate by denigrating and delegitimising the legal rights conferred on the Jewish people by the League of Nations in 1922 and the United Nations in 1945. The idea that there are two narratives on the Arab-Jewish conflict is rubbish. There is only one – the factual truth that details the return of the Jewish people to reconstitute the Jewish National Home in its ancient biblical, ancestral and historic homeland after 3500 years of dispersion with the unanimous endorsement of the nation states then comprising the League of Nations.... Generals can’t fight a war without soldiers. Jews around the world need to join the fight or vacate the internet to the Jew-haters and their lies that repeated often enough eventually become accepted as truth.David Singer (2016)

Exposing Lies

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The "Apartheid" Slur

The division of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into three separate areas “A”, “B” and “C” was agreed on by Israel and the PLO pursuant to the Oslo Accords.95% of the West Bank Arabs live in Areas A and B and their daily lives are under the total administration and control of the PLO since the Palestinian Authority was disbanded by Abbas in January 2013. The PLO has total security control in A and shares security control in B with Israel. Israel has total administrative and security control in C.Israel is entitled to and will continue to take responsibility for the security of Jews living in the West Bank.Jews were given the legal right to settle in the West Bank under article 6 of the Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the UN Charter. They did so for decades until they were driven out in 1947 and not able to return there until 1967.There are Arab roads only in the West Bank that Jews are not allowed to use. Jews are also forbidden from entering Area “A”. Selling land to Jews is forbidden by the PLO under pain of death. The PLO runs the daily lives of 95% of the West Bank Arabs and Hamas runs the daily lives of 100% of the Gazan Arabs. They have been under occupation – and subjugation – by these two evil groups for the last ten years and given no say in their future or any opportunity to elect others to lead them following the disastrous political decisions of their leaders over the past ten years. Hamas and the PLO do not accept the continued existence of a Jewish State and call for its disappearance. The narratives did not begin in 1948 – they began in about 1917. How do you make peace with an enemy that has been obsessed with not recognising any Jewish national rights in former Palestine for the last 100 years?David Singer (2016)

Telling the Truth

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The Jews of the Holy Land ... are surrounded by hostile states 650 times their territory and sixty times their population. Yet their last, best hope of ending two millennia of international persecution - the State of Israel - has somehow survived. When, during the Second World War, the island of Malta came through three terrible years of bombardment and destruction, it was rightly awarded the George Cross for bravery. Today, Israel should be awarded a similar decoration for defending democracy, tolerance and Western values against a murderous onslaught that has lasted twenty times as long.Andrew Roberts (historian)

A voice of courage & reason

He knows, y'know

An Aussie demo against BDS

On the left, black people are usually allowed to define what’s racism; women can define sexism; Muslims are trusted to define Islamophobia. But when Jews call out something as antisemitic, leftist non-Jews feel curiously entitled to tell Jews they’re wrong, that they are exaggerating or lying or using it as a decoy tactic – and to then treat them to a long lecture on what anti-Jewish racism really is. Jonathan Freedland (The Guardian, 29 April 2016)

An awkward fact for some!

Socialist thought was tainted from its very origins with the heavy baggage of anti-Jewish stereotypes. Robert Wistrich, From Ambivalence to Betrayal:The Left, the Jews, and Israel (2012)

BDS hypocrisy!

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Want more?

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Israel is understandably obsessed with security, but its greatest security lies ultimately not in the Israeli Defence Forces, but in political warfare.... Most of the world is not deeply interested in what happens in Israel, and probably does not want to be deluged with legalistic defences of particular actions. What it wants is a clear, calm, repeated case. It is a case – aimed more at public opinion than at foreign ministries – about freedom, democracy, a Western way of life and the need for the whole of the free world to fight terrorism. Sometimes you hear Israelis say: “It doesn’t matter what we say. The whole world is against us.” You can see why they say it, for they are indeed unfairly treated. But when they say it, they are uttering a self-fulfilling prophecy. If they won’t say what needs saying, no one else will say it for them. Charles Moore (2010)

Once again the armies of the Arab nations are coordinating their military efforts to destroy Israel - whatever they say about wishing merely to regain the lost territories.... [I]f the present Arab offensive had been launched at the pre-1967 frontiers, then the Israelis would indeed have been fighting to avoid annihilation. It seems now that the Israelis were right to maintain the ceasefire lines gained in 1967, and that to do so is the only guarantee of their continued safety.Alan Sillitoe (The Times, 11 October 1973)

A nuclear Iran threatens our existence

Iran and ISIS are competing for the crown of militant Islam... In this deadly game of thrones, there’s no place for America or for Israel, no place for Christians, Jews or Muslims who don’t share the Islamist medieval creed, no rights for women, no freedom for anyone... [T]he greatest danger facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons. To defeat ISIS and let Iran get nuclear weapons would be to win the battle, but lose the war. We can’t let that happen...[T]he days when the Jewish people remained passive in the face of genocidal enemies, those days are over. We are no longer scattered among the nations, powerless to defend ourselves. We restored our sovereignty in our ancient home. And the soldiers who defend our home have boundless courage. For the first time in 100 generations, we, the Jewish people, can defend ourselves....Even if Israel has to stand alone, Israel will stand. But ... I know that America stands with Israel... You stand with Israel, because you know that the story of Israel is not only the story of the Jewish people but of the human spirit that refuses again and again to succumb to history’s horrors. Bibi Netanyahu (12 Adar 5775; 3 March 2015)

The Jews are a peculiar people: things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews. Other nations drive out thousands, even millions, of people, and there is no refugee problem.... [N]o one says a word about refugees. But in the case of Israel displaced Arabs have become eternal refugees.... Other nations - when they are defeated - survive and recover, but should Israel be defeated it would be destroyed.... [A]s it goes with Israel, so it will go with all of us. Should Israel perish the holocaust will be upon us.Eric Hoffer (1968)

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אם תרצו , אין זו אגדה

Most of the present Arab countries were given their freedom after the 1914-18 War, or after the 1939-45 War.... Yet to listen to Arab spokesmen one might think that they had been cheated ... because they have not also got Israel. Israel is only .2 per cent of the land where Arab States have been established. Surely no fair-minded man can begrudge the Jews their own promised land when it is remembered that for every 2 acres that went to make up Israel, 1,000 acres became Arab.... Why is there an Arab refugee problem? The oil-rich countries have the money. There is no shortage of land, and the Israelis have the technical knowledge to show how it could be developed and made fertile. Bring those things together and the problem could be solved. 3rd Earl of Balfour (1968)

January 7, 2015 has already its place in the history of infamy, but also will be the date when the defenders of freedom and democracy will rise and pay tribute to those who died for their freedom and ours. Therefore, we must not forget on which side we are and who are our allies in the defense of the West and its values. Whether we admit it or not, the West is at war with an enemy who will not stop to destroy us...The State of Israel boasts a commandment that, in one of the darkest hours in the fight for liberty Winston Churchill taught: "Never give up". Israel has proven to be a key ally in the fight against Islamism and also an example of how a liberal democracy can resist the jihadist stake and thrive as a Western nation ... Not only France but also all the West should look to Israel to defeat Islamism...friendsofisraelinitiative.org

[I]t’s impossible to believe that an active antisemite wouldn’t – if only opportunistically – seek out somewhere to nestle in the manifold pleats of Israel-bashing, whether in generally diffuse anti-Zionism, or in more specific Boycott and Divestment Campaigns, Israeli Apartheid Weeks, End the Occupation movements and the like....[T]ell me that not a single Jew-hater finds the activity congenial, that criticising Israel can “never” be an expression of Jew-hating, not even when it takes the form of accusing Israeli soldiers of harvesting organs...Howard Jacobson (The Independent, 27 May 2013)

What has happened to the 800,000 Jews who lived for over 2000 years in the Arab lands ...? Where are they in Arab society today? You dare talk of racism when I can point with pride ... to the fact that it is as natural for an Arab to serve in public office in Israel as it is incongruous to think of a Jew serving in any public office in an Arab country, indeed being admitted to many of them. Chaim Herzog (6 Kislev 5736; 10 November 1975)

I stand with Israel, I stand with the Jews.... I defend their right to exist, to defend themselves, to not let themselves be exterminated a second time. And, disgusted by the antisemitism of many Europeans ... I am shamed by this shame that dishonours my country and Europe.Oriana Fallaci

For Western countries to side with those who question Israel's legitimacy, for them to play games in international bodies with Israel's vital security issues, for them to appease those who oppose Western values, rather than robustly to stand up in defence of those values, is not only a grave moral mistake, but a strategic error of the first magnitude. Israel is a fundamental part of the West. The West is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is lost and Israel is lost, then we are lost too. Jose Maria Aznar

Israel is, for us, a normal and a special country. A normal country, because it is just like any other democracy. A special country, because the Jewish culture, which eventually became the Judeo-Christian culture of the dignity of man, is the conceptual foundation of liberalism and democracy. This is why attacking Israel is tantamount to attacking Europe and the West. This is also why disputing Israel's legitimacy and its right to existence means questioning democracy. And this is why we are Friends of Israel. By defending Israel, we are defending ourselves.Marcello Pera

Israel ... is beset today by a unique combination of threats. It must defend its people from attack while defending its very right to exist. No other nation in the world faces this dual challenge. To deny Israel's right to confront some of the world's most vicious terrorist groups in order to ensure the safety of its citizens is to corrode international norms from within ... The assault on Israel is one part of a more general assault on the West, on democracy, and on the moral and cultural heritage that grew from the fruitful interaction of Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome ... Should these efforts succeed, similar efforts will certainly be turned against other western democracies.George Weigel

Apart from America itself, Israel still stands as the world's brightest model of national self-liberation based on ideals of individual responsibility and human freedom. Israel's ability to withstand Arab attempts to destroy it in one of the longest and most lop-sided wars ever fought serves as an indelible testimony to the strength of democratic culture.... We know from the past that the West paid dearly for ignoring Hitler's war against the Jews. One can only hope it will not pay as dearly for having ignored or underestimated for so long the Arab war against Israel and the Jews. Ruth Wisse

The choice before us is not between victory and defeat, but between victory and annihilation. We therefore have not the slightest intention of allowing the re-creation of the conditions of vulnerability in which we found ourselves, abandoned and alone, in the summer of 1967. Diplomat Michael Comay (1970)

I am duty-bound to defend freedom, culture, peaceful coexistence, the civic education of children, and all the principles that the Tablets of the Law have rendered universal. Principles which Islamic fundamentalism systematically destroys. This means that, since I am a Gentile, a journalist and a leftist, I have a triple moral commitment to Israel. Because, if Israel were to be vanquished, modernity, culture and freedom would also be crushed. Even though the world has failed to wake up to this fact, Israel's struggle is the world's struggle. Pilar Rahola

About Me

I'm a writer/researcher, with many academic books and articles under my own name. Daphne Anson is my blogging alias. Combining the names of two ships, it's a moniker of special significance to me - I'm a naval history buff. I use an alias owing to a perceived need to keep my blogging and professional identities separate. An Aussie, I've long been interested in
politics and foreign affairs, having studied International Relations in the USA and Britain for my first degree, and I also hold a doctorate. I began blogging in response to the exponential rise in antisemitism and hostility to Israel in the wake of the Mavi Marmara affair.
Another reason I use an alias: http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2015/08/alias-two-ships-daphne-anson.html

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The spiritual awakening which Jews experienced almost without exception last June must not be allowed to become a sealed and finished episode.... Support must be rallied among men of goodwill and their governments if we are to reach that secure and just peace in the attainment of which Israel has never ceased to believe. President Zalman Shazar (1968)

Our judicial system is one of the best in the whole world. Our democracy is the only one in the Middle East.... Just imagine, what would have happened if the Arabs had, like us, accepted the Partition resolution? There would be a Palestinian State living side by side in peace, security, and, I can add, prosperity with the State of Israel, 62 years later. [C]ome to Israel, and realize how small Israel is and what a wonderful place it is. Diplomat Gabriella Shalev (2010)

Israel's Arab citizens are the only Arabs in the Middle East who enjoy genuine civic and religious rights. Religious freedom is protected in Israel as nowhere else, tragically, in the Middle East. And civil rights, of course, there's a supreme court judge who is an Arab, ministers including in my government who are Arabs, Druze, and members of parliament who are Arabs and so on. I would like to see more involvement of Arabs in civil life.Bibi Netanyahu on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show (5 Nov. 2017)